June 2022

Reach 4A Star monthly news & updates

Welcome Melissa Anderson!

Please join us in welcoming our new Executive Director, Melissa Anderson! Melissa has worked in the healthcare industry for over 20 years, serving rural communities through non-profit organizations. She earned a Masters in Education from Colorado State University, completed her BS in Business/Accounting at the University of Minnesota and is currently finishing her doctoral degree from Abilene Christine University in Organizational Development. Melissa's personal mission statement is to inspiring others through positive action, and she has published research on culture and communication. When Melissa is not working, she enjoys spending time outside with her family fly fishing, raising horses and other farm animals. Melissa will work closely with our former Executive Director, Karol Santistevan, who remains at Reach 4A Star as our part-time Program Director while expanding on her Occupational Therapy practice, Ropes & Roses Therapy Services.

Friday Night - July 1 Casper Horseheads Baseball Game

The July 1 game at Mike Lansing Field is benefiting Reach 4A Star with fireworks! We hope everyone will come out and support Reach 4A Star and our local baseball team! Gates open at 5:30 pm. Game starts at 6:35 pm We are SO excited to be a part of this collegiate baseball game with out hometown team, the Casper Horseheads! There will be Friday night fireworks and Reach 4A Star will be the recipient of the 50/50 raffle and baseball throw. Buy a raffle ticket and you could win the other 50%! Bring the whole family and all of your friends for a fun evening with our own baseball team consisting of college players from around the country who live with host families in Casper during the season. For tickets or more info, go to their website here.

Photos: Jade Bult, Jade & Rena in front of the arena in Orlando, Rena Moore

Congratulations To Our Special Olympics Equestrians

Two weeks ago the 2022 USA Games concluded and Team Wyoming not only returned home with a once in a lifetime experience, but also with some precious hardware! We’re so proud of our Special Olympics Equestrian Team!!! Karol Santistevan (Coach), Jade Bult (Rider) & Rena Moore (Rider) spent 10 days in Orlando Florida for the competition representing Wyoming. Both riders had only a brief time to meet and train with the horses they were assigned. Rena won a bronze medal in Barrel Racing, 4th in Trail & & 4th in Pole Bending. She did a fantastic job with a horse who was more go than whoa. Jade won a Silver Medal in Western Equitation, a bronze in Pole Bending and 4th in Barrel Racing. We are so proud of each and every athlete who competed for their effort and performance at USA Games! Kudos to the coaches, instructors & Special O organizers! Team Wyoming came home with the following achievements:

5 Silver and 10 Bronze Medals

5 fourth, 5 fifth, 3 sixth, 2 seventh place Ribbons

Congratulations to Team Wyoming! You represented our State VERY WELL!

Way to #ShineAsOne

2022 CNFR Special Olympics Rodeo

We had a wonderful time at the 2022 College Nationals Final Special Olympics Rodeo this year! It's an honor to serve our community each year by bringing out our horses so staff and volunteers can work with them to offers our services to the special needs community who may only have the opportunity to ride a horse once a year..

From left: Kylie Brown, Chrys Main, Melissa Anderson, Maria Antonovich, Karol Santistevan and Don Boomsma getting ready for the Special Olympics Rodeo 2022. Photos courtesy of Lisa Mixer.

Special thanks to S & M Welding for being a GOLD sponsor for our Golf Tournament as well as 307 Tree Service, LLC & Jonah Bank of Wyoming for being Hole Sponsors. We appreciate your support!

We are also so grateful to Nathan Sanders at Platte Valley Bank for being our committee chair, Tracy Santistevan for rallying teams and Melissa Anderson for jumping right in her first day as our new ED & organizing this event.

Annual Reach 4A Star Golf Tournament

Thank you to everyone who participated and supported our annual golf tournament fundraiser June 3!

From Taylor Hensley, OTA Student

Reach 4 A Star provides an environment for Ropes and Roses Therapy Services to offer occupational therapy services to clients in the Casper area. All of the employees and volunteers are welcoming and passionate about their work. As an occupational therapy student at Casper College, engaging in Level II fieldwork, I am learning from OT practitioners who are making a positive difference in people’s lives. It's a unique environment for learning about client centered care, problem-solving, and empowering clients to meet their therapeutic goals. I am so grateful for this learning opportunity!

Taylor Hensley, OTAS

Photo:Taylor at CNFR Special Olympics Rodeo June 2022

Grief Camp 2022

Thank you to Dan Cepeda at Oil City News and Travis Mitchell at KCWY Chanel 13 TV for their coverage of this year's grief camp in partnership with Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions. You can view Dan's article here and watch the news cast from KCWY TV here.

2022 Session Dates

This year, to expand on our existing day camps working with Hospice (Grief Camp) & Girl Scouts (Leadership Camps), we will be offering 8 specialized 1/2 day programs serving up to 10 individuals each. These programs will be focused on mental health & well-being for community members,

From the Horse Wellness Committee

Welcome To the Herd, Bam Bam!

We have had the good fortune to add a new member to the Reach 4A Star Herd thanks to our wonderful Barn Manager, Maria Antonovich.. Bam Bam joined us a few weeks ago and is in the process of being introduced to the world of adaptive riding. Our Horse Wellness Committee visited Bam Bam at his prior home to see if he might be a fit for Reach 4A Star and felt he would be a rock star in our programs. Bam Bam belongs to Kim Lance but will be available for program sponsorship once he begins working in our programs.

Photo: Maria Antonovich and Bam Bam

2022 TRAIL MIX RUN

A HUGE THANK YOU to Denise Murphy along with all of the sponsors, volunteers and participants in this year's TRAILK MIX RUN! Denise does a fantastic job every year organizing and running this major fundraiser for Reach 4A Star and we are so grateful to her and everyone involved for their contributions!

2022 Trail Mix Run Partners

Maverick Oilfield Supply * Next Generation Care * Wind City Physical Therapy *Miracle Plumbing * CB Case Management * Martinson Rentals * T. Shaun Sutherland, DDS * Jo Stack and Larry Flippo * Advancing Abilities * Boomtown Blast Entertainment

2022 Trail Mix Run Sponsors

Round Up * Tuna’s House * Air Comfort Complete *Bonnie Gilbertson CMS * Michael Lovelett * Grimshaw Investments * Jonathan D. Schrack Insurance

: Keller Williams * Casper Snow Gypsies * Christie Family * Sylvia Spethman

2022 Trail Mix Run Donors

Peak Performance (*Paradise Valley Golf * Arc of Natrona County *

Sam’s Club * Franz Bakery *Snap Fitness *Ridley’s * 42 Degrees North*

Dara Thoren, Juliette & Joy * Casper Windy City Striders * Brush 44 Designs * Victor Orr * Wyoming T-Shirt and Gifts * Jennifer Henderson L-BRI * James Morgan-Kraft

FINISHER TIMES Trail Mix Run 2022 10 Mile

1. 462 Justin Kinner 1:11:00

2. 467 Fisk Johansson 1:11:10

3. 430 Michael Stillwagon 1:11:12

4. 448 Steve Armstrong 1:17:29

5. 461 Cameron Lally 1:18:35

6. 437 Casey Peterson 1:22:23

7. 454 Rylan Duffy 1:22:14

8. 428 Sam Cann 1:26:56

9. 419 Dave Swinney 1:28:09

10. 468 Jach Johnson 1:31:24

11. 436 Sarah Green 1:34:00

12. 472 Joe Johnston 1:35:34

13. 425 Jonathan Olsen 1:35:54

14. 458 Hannah Miller 1:36:33

15. 441 Jared Rude 1:37:44

16. 460 Joe Rogi 1:39:08

17. 439 Mark Babcock 1:40:06

18. 429 Terri Scoleri 1:40:10

19. 457 Nick Hopkins 1:43:15

20. 418 Nick Hernandez 1:43:42

21. 464 Gary Herring 1:44:23

22. 426 Tara Dye 1:46:02

23. 435 Jobe Reese 1:46:04

24. 416 Katrina Beckman 1:48:51

25. 424 Daisy Hoffman 1:51:13

26. 466 Nicole Glock 1:53:56

27. 449 Theresa Miller 2:00:10

28. 409 Sara Logan 2:00:16

29. 440 Angie Thomas 2:00:21

30. 432 Brynn McCarthy 2:08:48

31. 433 Mindy McCarthy 2:08:48

32. 423 Geneva Englehart 2:11:41

33. 431 Eric Easton 2:11:52

34. 420 Marion Overman 2:12:06

35. 434 JoAnn True 2:12:08

36. 421 Mindi Pile 2:13:15

37. 451 Marlene Short 2:13:47

FINISHER TIMES Trail Mix Run 2022 3 Mile

1. 446 Tyler Pacheco 22:22

2. 471 Ray Catellier 22:49

3. 473 Casey Bramlet 22:50

4. 459 Morgan Chaput 23:11

5. 381 Leonard Jacobs 23:35

6. 410 Buddy Morgan-Kraft 23:42

7. 443 Rose Green 24:29

8. 392 Ted Bracke 24:50

9. 415 Brian Olsen 25:13

10. 465 Janik Hansen 25:21

11. 401 Andrew Miller 26:05

12. 470 Vivian Campbell 27:04

13. 379 Dwayne Jozwik 27:16

14. 397 Rose Hicks 27:54

15. 447 Leslie Colburn 28:25

16. 413 Kristin Cisneros 29:25

17. 414 Rianna Balster 29:25

18. 450 Tami Milliken 31:10

19. 405 Kristin Stoner 31:11

20. 442 Debra Swedberg 31:12

21. 474 Ben Catellier 32:19

22. 469 Emily Catellier 32:33

23. 444 Magdalena Green 34:32

24. 445 Madeline Miller 34:33

25. 384 Janae Lamb 34:50

26. 388 Brandy Teague 35:06

27. 387 Brandy Teague 35:06

28. 407 Alice Bingle-Davis 36:20

29. 455 Lorraine Osman 38:52

30. 408 Marron Bingle-Davis 38:53

31. 411 Jill Stillwagon 40:04

32. 394 Shelley Smith 43:44

33. 393 Joe Smith 43:45

34. 396 Mary Podrazik 44:03

35. 456 Jana Hopkins 45:12

36. 382 Joy Lammers 48:08

37. 383 Berlyn Lammers 48:08

38. 453 Tyler Cann 52:27

39. 452 Payton Cann 52:28

40. 395 Debbie Timbers 55:51

41. 399 Francine Rouch 55:51

42. 402 Tonya Newsome 55:51

42. 454 Rylan Hirz 1:22:14

43. 463 Emily Johnson 1:24:03

44. 389 JoDean Angell 1:24:03

45. 390 Keli Johnson 1:24:04

Health and Safety

As always, we ask our Therapists, Instructors Volunteers & Clients to follow Health Department guidelines if you may have been exposed to Covid or have any symptoms of ANY contagious illness! Let's work together to keep everyone healthy.

Thank you!

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